Desert Stalkers

The desert stalker is a flowering plant native to the arid plains. It is a deeply unsettling plant, easily recognisable due to its unique anatomy. However, it is not actually a harmful plant, and can be quite friendly in most circumstances. The plant thrives in the heat of direct sunlight from Etharai's sun, but also depends on it to maintain the plant's natural temperature balance, making taking the plant out of its natural environment can cause withering and death.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The desert stalker is a flowering plant with wooden roots and stiff stems. These stems branch off into the plant's leaves and flowers, the former providing it warmth and nutrients from the sun, as well as the latter serving as its method of reproduction. Its flowers have large petals, with small teeth lining the edges. These teeth serve to dissuade unwanted species from approaching the plant. The centre of the flowers have eyestalks emerging from them. The fruits at the top of these stalks appear unnervingly like eyes, but are in fact the actual fruit of the plant, containing its seeds for other species to eat and then carry elsewhere.

Dietary Needs and Habits

The desert stalker acts as a decomposer, gaining nutrients from things that die near its roots. It increases the chances of this happening by making its roots an easy home for many small animals, the wide and strong roots stretching and tangling into one another to form small and well-protected tunnels suited for burrows of animals such as the porcupig or the white-sand scorpion. This makes the animals more likely to die within their roots, allowing them to decompose the bodies, as well as leaving newly-vacated dens for more animals to move into.

Agnes Placeholder by notahumanhand

Lifespan

240-1,300 years

Geographic Distribution

• Arid Plains